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Canon Rebel XTI dark pictures in all the auto settings

Hello,

I have a Canon Rebel XTI that I got as a gift about a year ago. When taking pictures in all of the auto modes they come out dark no matter what the lighting is like. To fix the issue I go in and clean them up with photoshop. This is a pain in the back side, because it has to be done with every picture. I was talking to a friend with the same camera and he doesn't have this issue with his, and his daughter has the same camera with no issues. Do you think it's something wrong with my camera?

The XTi underexposing has been a very well documented rumor. It seems the older ones have the problem more than the newer ones (I'm guessing a firmware upgrade made the change). There's nothing particularly defective about your camera aside from the fact that Canon thought people wouldn't want blown highlights, and apparently they were wrong. My personal suggestion would be to stop using auto mode, or set your exposure compensation a little higher. If you want to send it to Canon, you could do that too, but it seems like more effort than it's worth to me personally.

The XTi underexposing has been a very well documented rumor. It seems the older ones have the problem more than the newer ones (I'm guessing a firmware upgrade made the change). There's nothing particularly defective about your camera aside from the fact that Canon thought people wouldn't want blown highlights, and apparently they were wrong. My personal suggestion would be to stop using auto mode, or set your exposure compensation a little higher. If you want to send it to Canon, you could do that too, but it seems like more effort than it's worth to me personally.

When you talk about the older ones have the problem more than the newer ones, how old of cameras are you talking about. Mines about a year old.

When I called the guy at Canon they told me all the settings on the auto modes can't be changed, can they? Or are you taking on some of the manual modes changing the settings?

When you talk about the older ones have the problem more than the newer ones, how old of cameras are you talking about. Mines about a year old.

When I called the guy at Canon they told me all the settings on the auto modes can't be changed, can they? Or are you taking on some of the manual modes changing the settings?

On the back of your camera, the top button on the right hand side of the LCD screen (+/-) will increase/decrease exposure compensation on your camera. Press and hold the exposure compensation button while turning the command dial on the top of your camera. Try different +compensations to see which will compensate for the level of darkness in your photos.

On the back of your camera, the top button on the right hand side of the LCD screen (+/-) will increase/decrease exposure compensation on your camera. Press and hold the exposure compensation button while turning the command dial on the top of your camera. Try different +compensations to see which will compensate for the level of darkness in your photos.

Ray.

Thanks Ray I will try that tomorrow. With the setting stay or will I have to do it each time I use the camera?

Can you post a few samples to show just how dark they are? Very few people actually had an XTi that did actually underexpose a lot.

Most people that complain about under exposure do not understand how the camera measures exposure, but yes, the XTi is slightly conservative in exposure.

Stop using auto modes, there is almost never a reason to use them. Us P mode if you do not want much control over the exposure, otherwise use Av when you can to control the aperture, or Tv when the speed of the shot is important. In these modes you can force the camera to expose longer, as described above by Ray Schnoor (with the Av+/- button).

Thanks Ray I will try that tomorrow. With the setting stay or will I have to do it each time I use the camera?

I can't say for sure, but I believe that it will stay at the same exposure compensation when you turn off/on the camera.

Originally Posted by coldrain

Stop using auto modes, there is almost never a reason to use them. Us P mode if you do not want much control over the exposure, otherwise use Av when you can to control the aperture, or Tv when the speed of the shot is important.(with the Av+/- button).

The way I read Tom Tom's post, he means everything except for M when he says Auto modes, which includes Av, Tv and P modes. I could be wrong, though.

This is what I'm taking about when I say they are dark. This picture was taken in Baja at the Baja 1000 2 months ago. It was in fun sun at the time. It was set on the sports setting on the camera.

Here's th same picture after I went into photoshop and cleaned it up a little. That's a pain in the a** when you have 500 pictures.

When I take pictures in P, TV, M, and AV I can set the settings. In other modes a can't and they always come out dark. I can take everything in P, TV, M, and AV, but I have the other settings, and it seems like a waste not being about to use them.

Your problem in the picture you posted is that you should have used flash. There's a very bright glare on the front of the bike, the background is all a mid tone, and the rider is dark because of shadows. The scene is exposed properly aside from the shadows in the rider.